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The US Senate has delayed the Cryptocurrency Market Structure Bill until 2026.

The US Senate has postponed the final review of the cryptocurrency market structure bill until early 2026.

Jurisdiction disputes between the SEC and CFTC, DeFi regulation, and consumer protections have slowed progress.

The delay prolongs regulatory uncertainty for cryptocurrency exchanges, issuers, and institutional investors.

The US Senate has postponed the final reading of the long-awaited Cryptocurrency Market Structure Act until early 2026. The inability to reach consensus on the bill's core provisions and the completion of the parliamentary calendar have pushed the final decision to another spring.

This delay prolongs regulatory uncertainty for cryptocurrency exchanges, issuers, and institutional investors operating in the US.

Why Was the Cryptocurrency Market Clarity Act Delayed?

Based on the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, which passed the House of Representatives, the bill aims to clarify how digital assets will be regulated. If enacted, supervisory authority will be formally split between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Commission (CFTC).

However, unresolved differences regarding jurisdiction, DeFi regulation, and investor protection have slowed the process.

Senate negotiators struggled to bridge the differences between the Banking Committee and the Agriculture Committee. These committees oversee the SEC and CFTC, respectively, and both claim influence over the crypto spot market.

As a result, a final, agreed-upon text of the framework could not be drafted by the end of the term.

DeFi regulation was also a key point of contention. Some senators advocated for exemptions for decentralized and intermediary-free protocols.

Others warned that broad exemptions would weaken implementation and create regulatory loopholes.

Investor rights organizations also increased pressure against the framework, arguing that it diminishes the SEC's powers and risks weakening investor protection following some recent major crypto failures.

This opposition led to further revisions and slowed negotiations even further.

Despite everything, the bill differs significantly from other approved crypto legislation. While the GENIUS Act focused solely on stablecoins, the market structure law encompasses the entire crypto trading ecosystem.

The new law aims to regulate cryptocurrency exchanges, brokers, custodians, and token issuers under a single, unified federal framework.

The bill goes beyond practice-based regulation. It establishes standards for how crypto assets are formally classified, not leaving the determination of whether tokens are securities or commodities solely to court rulings.

The legislature states that this approach will replace regulatory uncertainty with legal clarity.